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Fri, 31 Jul 2015 21:22:39 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Raichlen’s Top 10 Meat Cities in the U.S.http://barbecuebible.com/2014/10/27/raichlens-top-10-meat-cities-us/
http://barbecuebible.com/2014/10/27/raichlens-top-10-meat-cities-us/#commentsMon, 27 Oct 2014 17:15:07 +0000http://barbecuebible.com/?p=8347Ribs at Q39 in Kansas City, Missouri What are the best cities in North America in which to eat meat? A reporter from a major American newspaper asked me this […]

What are the best cities in North America in which to eat meat? A reporter from a major American newspaper asked me this in an interview recently, and it got me to thinking. Where should the unrepentant carnivore go to eat his/her fill of red meat?

Herewith, Raichlen’s Top 10 Meat Cities in the U.S.:

Austin, Texas: Where else do people start lining up at 8 a.m. at Franklin, La Barbecue, Micklethwait Craft Meats and other great barbecue joints that won’t open until 11 a.m.? Doesn’t anyone in Austin have a job?

Micklethwait Craft Meats in Austin, Texas

Dallas, Texas: I have just two words for you—the “brontosaurus ribs” at the new Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum.

Los Angeles, California: The Italian steak house on Melrose, Chi Spacca, may serve the biggest steak in North America—the 4-inch thick, 50-ounce wood fire-grilled costata alla fiorentina. And that’s just the beginning.

Atlanta, Georgia: If you don’t believe me, sit at the bar at King + Duke and watch steaks, chops and burgers roll off the monster wood-burning Infierno grill.

Kansas City, Missouri: Jon Russell’s. Q39. The Local Pig. Not to mention such local classics as Oklahoma Joe’s. When it comes to barbecue, Kansas City still rules.

The Local Pig in Kansas City, Missouri

Chicago, Illinois: Sure, they have landmark steakhouses to rival any in North America, but Chicago gets my vote for its unique Italian beef sandwich. Yes, you want it with hot peppers.

Portland, Oregon: The secreto at the Imperial restaurant. The asado argentino at Ox restaurant. The “Porkstrami” at Tails & Trotters. This meat-tropolis on the Willamette River has become a carnivore’s paradise.

Imperial in Portland, Oregon

Washington, DC: Never mind all the pork that gets generated by Congress. Don’t miss the herb-smoked steaks at Del Campo and the spit-roasted whole lamb at Kapnos.

Kapnos in Washington, DC

North Carolina: OK—it’s not one city, but a whole state gone hog wild for pulled pork at such landmark barbecue joints as Lexington Barbecue in Lexington, Wilber’s in Goldsboro, the Skylight Inn in Ayden, the Pit in Raleigh, and the new Ed Mitchell’s in Durham.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2014/10/27/raichlens-top-10-meat-cities-us/feed/4Boston Butt Basics, Part 2http://barbecuebible.com/2013/11/27/boston-butt-basics-part-2/
http://barbecuebible.com/2013/11/27/boston-butt-basics-part-2/#commentsWed, 27 Nov 2013 03:48:50 +0000http://barbecuebible.com/?p=5152In the last blog, Boston Butt Basics, Part 1, we discussed the anatomy of pork shoulder. So now you know the difference between a Boston butt and a picnic. You […]

]]>In the last blog, Boston Butt Basics, Part 1, we discussed the anatomy of pork shoulder. So now you know the difference between a Boston butt and a picnic. You know what to look for when buying pork shoulder and you read how to season it with a mustard rub, smoke it, and serve it, South Carolina-style with Mustard Sauce.

So it’s time to, er, bone up on pork shoulder grilling and smoking techniques and some basic prep before you fire up the grill.

Prepping a pork shoulder:

Keep the shoulder refrigerated until you’re ready to cook it. Some pitmasters advocate letting the meat come to room temperature first, but I disagree. Lukewarm raw meat is an invitation to disaster.

If the pork shoulder comes with skin, I like to cut it off, season the meat, and then retie the skin to the pork shoulder with butcher’s twine. (For example, see the lechon asado from Puerto Rico in Planet Barbecue). Loosening the skin in this manner helps it crisp better than leaving it attached to the meat. Still not crisp enough for you? Try direct grilling the meat side of the skin the last few minutes of cooking.

For extra flavor and moistness, you can brine the pork shoulder for a day or two before smoking or grilling. For a fruit flavor and to encourage browning, replace part of the water in a standard brine recipe (2 cups kosher salt dissolved in 1 gallon of water) with apple juice, and add a little molasses, maple syrup, or brown sugar. Pat the shoulder dry before roasting or grilling.

Another way to add flavor and moistness is to inject the shoulder with apple juice, melted butter, and/or your favorite injection sauce. Use a kitchen injector (it looks like an oversize hypodermic needle) to inject thin injector sauces. Use our wide-mouth injector and spike to inject thick flavoring mixtures, like a Jamaican jerk spice paste.

Generously rub the outside of the pork butt or picnic with your favorite rub, working it into the interstices between muscles. Note: If you have previously brined the pork, use a low-sodium or salt-free rub to avoid oversalting the meat. At this point, you can wrap the meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before grilling, which will partially cure the meat. Or grill or smoke it right away, in which case the rub will act like a seasoned salt.

If the bone has been removed, tie the pork shoulder at intervals with butcher’s twine to help it maintain a compact cylindrical shape and to prevent exposed surfaces from drying out.

To smoke or indirect grill?

Barbecue tradition calls for pork shoulders to be smoked low and slow, but if you stick an oven thermometer in many professional pits, you’ll be surprised to find cooking temperatures in excess of 325 degrees.

Low and slow smoking (done at 225 degrees) produces exceptionally moist, tender, smoky meat and requires 5 to 8 hours (depending on the size of the shoulder), but little in the way of direct intervention.

Smoke-roasting (indirect grilling at 325 degrees with wood chips on the coals to generate smoke) shortens the cooking process (to 2 to 3 hours) and gives you crisp and tasty burnt edges in addition to moist smoky meat. This is the method I prefer.

Finally, there’s spit-roasting, which is well suited to well-marbled cylindrical roasts like Boston butt. The slow gentle rotation of the rotisserie spit bastes the meat with its own melting fat. Yum.

Putting it all together:

If smoking, set up your smoker according to the manufacturer’s directions and preheat to 225 degrees. If desired, put a drip pan with water, beer, or apple juice under or next to the meat.

If smoke-roasting, set up your grill for indirect grilling and preheat to 325 degrees. Place a drip pan under the grate between the mounds of coals. Yes, you can add water, beer, or cider to the drip pan.

Soak several cups of smoking wood chips or chunks, such as apple or hickory, in water, beer, or apple juice for 1 hour. Drain, then put about 3/4 cup on each pile of hot coals.

Add fresh charcoal every hour or as needed to maintain 225 degrees. (Leave the firebox open for a few minutes until the charcoal lights.) Continue to add wood chips or chunks every hour for the first 3 to 4 hours of smoking, or the first 2 hours of smoke-roasting.

How much time will your pork butt or picnic take? A good rule of thumb is about 1 hour per pound. But always allow more time than you think you’ll need.

If desired, spray the pork with apple juice, cider, or root beer after the first hour or so of cooking. (Give the “bark”—crust—on the outside time to set before moistening.) Or use a barbecue mop to swab on a mop sauce. But avoid opening the grill or smoker too often. You know what pitmasters say: “If you’re lookin’, you’re not cookin’.”

Like brisket, pork shoulder often “stalls” at temperatures around 165 degrees F. (The internal temperature will actually drop briefly—caused by evaporation of the juices on the surface.) Don’t panic. The temperature will eventually begin to rise again.

If your intention is to serve the pork sliced, you can remove it from the grill when it reaches an internal temperature of 170 to 180 degrees F. If you want to chop or “pull” the pork (tear it into meaty shreds)—always my first choice—the internal temperature must be between 190 and 200 degrees F. Anything less, and the collagen and connective tissue will not have broken down sufficiently. Insert the temperature probe of an instant-read meat thermometer in several places to ensure doneness. Make sure you do not touch bone with the tip of the probe, or you will get a false (higher) reading.

So how can you tell if a pork shoulder is ready without an instant-read meat thermometer? Using tongs or, wearing insulated food gloves, find the bone and give it a tug. When the meat is the proper temperature, the bone will pull free with almost no resistance.

Give it a rest. Transfer the meat from the smoker or the grill to a foil pan or platter and let it rest in a warm spot, loosely tented with foil for 20 to 30 minutes. (If you are not yet ready to serve, you can hold the meat in an insulated cooler for up to 2 hours.)

]]>A few years ago, I was discussing barbecue with uber chef Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se fame. “Where I come from,” he said, “the sauce is the barbecue.” Sorry, Chef, but in this barbecue community a lot of folks would beg to differ. For most smoke fanatics, barbecue is the long, slow, smoky cooking of meat in a pit and the sauce is a supporting player.

But supporting actors play a major roll, too. (Just watch the Oscars.) As you travel America’s barbecue trail, you’ll find some pretty formidable sauces. This lip-licking road trip across 7 states highlights 8 must-try regional barbecue sauces. And you can find more from across the U.S. in my book, Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades.

North Carolina: Ever wonder what barbecue sauce tasted like in George Washington’s day? (Our first president was a major ‘que fanatic.) One thing’s for sure: it wouldn’t have contained ketchup. (Commercial versions of this sweet red condiment weren’t available until the late 19th century.) It probably contained hot red pepper — imported from America’s trading partners in the West Indies. And it certainly contained salt and vinegar — with just the barest trace of sweetener (or maybe none at all). Sound familiar? You’re looking at the peppery vinegar sauce that accompanies pulled pork and chopped pork sandwiches throughout North Carolina today. (In the western part of the state they add a little ketchup to the sauce.) The vinegar cuts the richness of the pork fat, while the thin, watery consistency soaks into the chopped meat without making it gummy. My version is “Pig Picker Pucker Sauce.”

South Carolina: South Carolinians take a different approach to counterpointing the richness of barbecue pork. Inspired by early German immigrants to the area, they build their sauce on mustard, sharpened with vinegar and sweetened with molasses, honey, or brown sugar. Ketchup? It doesn’t have a chance here. Note of Yankee heresy here: I make my South Carolina mustard sauce with imported Maille mustard from Dijon, not the usual yellow ballpark-style mustard. Same pulled pork, but the sauce has a more elegant flavor.

Texas: Quick — describe a “Texas-style” barbecue sauce. Hum. I thought so. The Lone Star State has lots of great barbecue, but no one statewide style of sauce. Hell, one of the most famous barbecue restaurants in Texas — the Kreuz Market in Lockhardt — doesn’t even serve sauce. Traditional Texas barbecue sauce tends to start with meat drippings — enriched with ketchup, beef stock, and/or chili powder. Cumin and pepper often play a role, but sweeteners are kept to a minimum.

Alabama: Visit Big Bob Gibson’s in Decatur, Alabama, and you’ll find a style of barbecue that’s sui generis: smoked chicken with white barbecue sauce. Really. The sauce — a piquant combination of mayonnaise, cider vinegar, and black pepper — was invented by local railroad man-turned-pit master, Big Bob Gibson, so the legend goes, for a customer who hated tomatoes. Since 1925, Big Bob’s has been the go-to-place for barbecue in Decatur, and today, his namesake restaurants (there are two) are run by Chris Lilly, husband of Big Bob’s great granddaughter. I know the mayo thing sounds strange, but take my word for it, it’s awesome.

Kentucky: Having just discussed “white” barbecue sauce, it seems only fair — in a gesture of culinary chiaroscuro — to mention western Kentucky’s “black” barbecue sauce. Confined mostly to Owensboro, a city of 60,000 on the banks of the Ohio River, this distinctive sauce (locally called “dip”) traditionally accompanies an equally distinctive local specialty: barbecued mutton. You read that right: Not lamb, but strong-flavored mutton. Made from Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, melted butter, and allspice, Kentucky’s black barbecue sauce has an amazing ability to tame the gamey taste of the mutton (it makes a fabulous sauce for milder lamb, too).

Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis knows its stuff when it comes to barbecue. The dry rub rib (charcoal grilled ribs mopped with vinegar sauce, then thickly crusted with spice rub) was invented here (at the Rendezvous), and the city hosts one of the world’s biggest barbecue contests, The Memphis in May World Championship. Memphis-ites aren’t shy about wet-fixing their pork either, swabbing ribs with vinegar-and-mustard based mop sauce, or pairing tomato based barbecue sauce with smoked pork shoulder.

St. Louis, Missouri: Mention “barbecue” to someone from St. Louis, and you’ll summon forth images of luscious grilled crosscut slabs of Boston butt locally known as “pork steaks.” The sauce de rigeur in these parts is an aromatic tomato-based sauce called “Maull’s.” The mere mention of Maull’s is enough to bring anyone with St. Louis roots out of a crowd. Being a made-from-scratch kind of guy, I came up with a homemade version of Maull’s — fragrant with soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic powder, orange zest, and Tabasco sauce. Try it on a grilled pork shoulder steak. To a St. Louisian, there’s nothing better.

Kansas City, Missouri: Last but not least, the sauce that for most Americans defines barbecue sauce. Sweet with molasses and brown sugar, edged with cider vinegar, and punctuated with—and this is key—a generous dose of liquid smoke, this popular condiment was one of the first barbecue sauces to be sold in stores. It has a flavor profile familiar to almost all Americans born after World War II — people who have eaten ribs or chicken grilled in the backyard slathered with KC Masterpiece, the BBQ sauce created by Dr. Rich Davis. The child psychiatrist turned sauce mogul had a lifelong fascination with barbecue and he tinkered with the family sauce recipe for decades until his KC Masterpiece finally went on sale in 1977. Today KC Masterpiece is owned by Clorox.

When it comes to pulled pork, restaurants that still burn wood in their pits are becoming an endangered species. So imagine my delight recently
when I met pit masters Vernon Carver and Donald Cozart at Backyard BBQ Pit in Durham, North Carolina.

Here’s the first thing you see when you park behind Backyard BBQ.
And here’s the second thing–meats smoked low and slow in pits darkened with age and wood smoke.
And here’s the payoff: pulled pork sandwiches so smoky and succulent, I bet you can’t eat just one. (The sauce is classic North Carolina–vinegar with hot sauce.) Smoky, tender ribs lacquered with a not-too-sweet barbecue sauce. And exemplary hush puppies and collard greens.
If you want to try barbecue at its best, this classic roadhouse is worth the trip.

When Steven gave a grilling demonstration at the Charlotte Shout last month, he was in righteous company. Here Steven and Martin Yan autograph a copy of Indoor Grilling at the Johnson & Wales Bookstore in Charlotte, North Carolina.

When Steven gave a grilling demonstration at the Charlotte Shout last month, he was in righteous company. Here Steven and Martin Yan autograph a copy of Indoor Grilling at the Johnson & Wales Bookstore in Charlotte, North Carolina. Steven prepared rum glazed shrimp grilled on sugar cane (How to Grill), dry rub ribs (Barbecue Bible), and Cinnamon Grilled Peaches (BBQ USA), while Martin sent flames leaping high into the air from his wok. When you’re on the road as much as we are, it’s nice to connect with old friends.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2005/10/13/dueling-pens/feed/0updatehttp://barbecuebible.com/2004/08/16/update/
http://barbecuebible.com/2004/08/16/update/#commentsMon, 16 Aug 2004 08:39:38 +0000http://barbecuebible.com.erlbaum.net/?p=77Please check out the updated schedule for a chance to meet Steven. He'll be Indiana and North Carolina this month.

Rates and dates now posted at BBQ University. Sign up in advance. Click on Barbecue U.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2004/08/16/update/feed/0Strangershttp://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/25/strangers/
http://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/25/strangers/#commentsTue, 25 May 2004 18:54:10 +0000http://barbecuebible.com.erlbaum.net/?p=64In barbecue, there's no such thing as strangers--just friends you haven't met. When Steven pulled into Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to teach a class at A Southern Season, he got to meet two prominent personages from the Barbecue Bible BBQ Board.

]]>In barbecue, there’s no such thing as strangers–just friends you haven’t met. When Steven pulled into Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to teach a class at A Southern Season, he got to meet two prominent personages from the Barbecue Bible BBQ Board.
In the center is web mistress, Amy Lewis (a.k.a., info@workman.com). And on the right is Mike Jones (a.k.a. Airfoil). Amy holds a beer can chicken and Mike scored honors points by bringing some terrific smoked pork shoulder.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/25/strangers/feed/0Allen & Sonshttp://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/04/allen-sons/
http://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/04/allen-sons/#commentsTue, 04 May 2004 13:09:53 +0000http://barbecuebible.com.erlbaum.net/?p=58Here's Steven hard at work at Allen & Sons Barbecue in Chapel Hill.
As any journalist knows, there's no substitute for field research! Every day I give thanks that I live in a country and time and history when a guy can actually make a living eating barbecue, cooking barbecue, and writing about barbecue. Amen!

]]>Here’s Steven hard at work at Allen & Son Barbecue in Chapel Hill.
As any journalist knows, there’s no substitute for field research! Every day I give thanks that I live in a country and time and history when a guy can actually make a living eating barbecue, cooking barbecue, and writing about barbecue.
Amen!
By the way, the pork sandwich here is the very exemplar of the species–the perfect blend of soft, rich, tender shoulder meat and crisp “brownies” (crusty slivers of the burnt edges and skin). North Carolina’s barbecue sauce is unlike any other in the U.S.–mostly cider vinegar, salt, and hot pepper flakes, with a smidgen of sugar to take off the edge. It’s designed to blend in with the chopped pork without making it sloppy and the vinegar cuts the fat.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2004/05/04/allen-sons/feed/0Allen & Sonhttp://barbecuebible.com/2004/04/29/allen-son/
http://barbecuebible.com/2004/04/29/allen-son/#commentsThu, 29 Apr 2004 20:27:19 +0000http://barbecuebible.com.erlbaum.net/?p=57If the BBQ bus tour is a pilgrimage, this is one of the Meccas. Allen & Son Barbecue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Pork shoulders roasted fall-off-the-bone tender over slow smoldering hickory, chopped fine as confetti, doused with vinegar sauce, crowned with vinegar slaw, and served on a bun. This is one of the finest pulled pork sandwiches in all of North Carolina--worth a stop if you're in the area and worth a special trip if you're not. Got a favorite BBQ joint you want Steven to try on tour? Let us know on the Barbecue Board.

]]>If the BBQ bus tour is a pilgrimage, this is one of the Meccas. Allen & Son Barbecue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Pork shoulders roasted fall-off-the-bone tender over slow smoldering hickory, chopped fine as confetti, doused with vinegar sauce, crowned with vinegar slaw, and served on a bun. This is one of the finest pulled pork sandwiches in all of North Carolina–worth a stop if you’re in the area and worth a special trip if you’re not. Got a favorite BBQ joint you want Steven to try on tour? Let us know on the Barbecue Board.

]]>http://barbecuebible.com/2004/04/29/allen-son/feed/0On The Road Againhttp://barbecuebible.com/2004/04/22/on-the-road-again-3/
http://barbecuebible.com/2004/04/22/on-the-road-again-3/#commentsThu, 22 Apr 2004 14:45:51 +0000http://barbecuebible.com.erlbaum.net/?p=56On the road again!
This week Steven heads out on tour again with the Barbecue Bus. Our first stop was the lakeside home of Charlotte Observer columnist, Dan Huntley. (Sure beats grilling in an asphalt parking lot!) Over the next few weeks, we'll visit Raleigh, Atlanta, Nashville, Louisville, Lexington, and Memphis. Watch for picture postcards on the blog and check the tour schedule on this site.

]]>On the road again!
This week Steven heads out on tour again with the Barbecue Bus. Our first stop was the lakeside home of Charlotte Observer columnist, Dan Huntley. (Sure beats grilling in an asphalt parking lot!) Over the next few weeks, we’ll visit Raleigh, Atlanta, Nashville, Louisville, Lexington, and Memphis. Watch for picture postcards on the blog and check the tour schedule on this site.